Dallas life goes on after first Ebola casualty

DALLAS – Traffic still snarled local roads. Businesses filled with customers. And the State Fair of Texas, now in its second week and located four miles east of downtown, continued milling with visitors.

In the first days after the death of Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, the first confirmed Ebola casualty in the USA, life appeared normal in Dallas. No widespread panic or palpable anxiety.

Still, city leaders and those close to the family reflected on what they said was the sudden and stunning passing of the country's first Ebola patient. Duncan died Wednesday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where he battled the virus for nine days.

"You knew the odds were against him, but I was still hoping," Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said on Thursday. "It was terrifically disappointing and gut wrenching to lose him."

Residents, for the most part, have stayed calm about the Ebola-caused death, he said. But Duncan's death is a stark reminder of the long-reaching threat of the virus, which has killed more than 3,800 people in West Africa. State, county and federal officials are still monitoring 48 people who came in contact with Duncan for signs of the virus.

"It brings the reality that this a fatal disease," Rawlings said. People "are anxious but not scared."

News of Duncan's death hit the city's Liberian community the hardest, many of whom thought American doctors and expertise would save their fellow countryman, much the same way doctors in other U.S. cities saved three other American-born patients infected with Ebola.

Liberians here are limiting their hugging and shaking of hands of one another – a difficult habit to maintain for a culture that often hugs, touches and kisses cheeks for greetings, said Stanley Gaye, president of the Liberian Community Association of Dallas-Fort Worth. There are between 5,000 and 10,000 Liberians living in the area.

"Everyone's surprised, down, disappointed," Gaye said. "They all thought he should have pulled through."

Gaye said he spoke with Duncan's fiancée, Louise Troh, shortly after hearing of Duncan's death. She was sobbing and distraught during the brief phone call. Troh, her teenaged son and two nephews have been quarantined at an undisclosed location to make sure the virus wasn't passed along to them. Troh told Gaye she had not shown any signs of the virus.

"She's still in disbelief," Gaye said. "She had hope and faith in the medical facilities and doctors within the United States that he would pull through. That faith was broken."

Still dealing with the news of Duncan's death, residents here received some good news Thursday when state health officials announced tests were negative for Ebola for Dallas County Sheriff's Sgt. Michael Monnig, who was rushed to the hospital Wednesday under suspicions he may have been infected.

Also Thursday, Gov. Rick Perry visited U.S. Army troops at Fort Hood who were readying to deploy to West Africa in a supporting role to combat the Ebola outbreak there. About 350 U.S. military personnel are now in Liberia, but the total force could reach 4,000 troops in the effort to build medical centers in the Ebola-riddled nation of Liberia.

"What you're fixing to do is not just about the United States or the United States Army," Perry said. "You're fixing to do a great service to the world … We're proud of you, know that."

He added: "You're on the tip of the spear of a very, very important duty, a role that will make a difference."

The Ebola crisis here has done little to dampen enthusiasm for the State Fair of Texas, the biggest in the state which runs through Oct. 19 and draws an estimated 3 million visitors. Organizers have set out extra hand sanitizers and signs around the fairgrounds urging people to wash their hands often, said Karissa Schuler, a fair spokeswoman.

"It's top of mind," she said. "But we really haven't noticed an impact here."

On Wednesday evening, around 300 people attended a prayer service for Duncan at Wilshire Baptist Church, where Troh attends. The event was initially scheduled as a prayer vigil for Duncan, but turned into a memorial instead as news of his death spread through town.

Local Liberian leaders gave heartfelt sermons and the crowd sang Amazing Grace and prayed for Duncan's family and a speedy end to the outbreak. The congregation had also been praying for Duncan to recover -- a call that apparently didn't register.

"We all have been praying for a miracle and it didn't happen," associate pastor Mark Wingate said. "We didn't get the outcome we hoped and prayed for."